Noel Schulz named College of Engineering associate dean for research and director of the engineering experiment station

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Noel Schulz has been named the College of Engineering's associate dean for research and graduate programs, and director of the college's Engineering Experiment Station.

Schulz is the LeRoy C. and Aileen H. Paslay professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the university's Electrical Power Affiliates Program. She will assume her new duties Aug. 1, succeeding current Associate Dean and Director Byron Jones, who will move forward to a faculty position as professor in the department of mechanical and nuclear engineering.

As head of the Engineering Experiment Station, Schulz’s duties will include leading the development of effective, major funded research programs and promoting the efficient conduct of these programs.

“Noel Schulz brings a wealth of experience in education, research and administration to this position,” said John English, dean of the College of Engineering. “I have every confidence in her abilities to oversee the collection, preparation and presentation of testing and research of engineering and manufacturing value that is of direct importance to the state of Kansas and beyond. Her role will be integral as the College of Engineering moves forward in support of Kansas State University's goal to become a top 50 public research university by 2025.”

Schulz joined the Kansas State University faculty in 2009. She is a nationally recognized expert in power systems engineering, and her research has been funded by a variety of agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. departments of Defense, Energy and Homeland Security. She also works with electric utilities and power equipment manufacturers and serves as president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power and Energy Society, a worldwide nonprofit association.

As an administrator, Schulz has been actively involved in recruiting and retaining women in engineering, promoting faculty development and encouraging international experiences in education. She has initiated faculty networks for women at three universities. For several years she served as director of faculty development and women in engineering at Mississippi State, where she held an endowed professorship as the Tennessee Valley Authority Professor in power systems engineering.

Her teaching interests include power systems, energy conversion, application of computer programs to power engineering, application of intelligent systems to engineering problems, fundamentals of electrical circuits, renewable and distributed generation and smart grid technologies.

Schulz has received a number of awards and belongs to the American Society for Engineering Education and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Schulz is married to Kansas State University President Kirk Schulz. They have two sons, Timothy, a senior in computer science at Mississippi State, and Andrew, a senior at Manhattan High School.